


Astra Inclinant, Sed Non Obligant

by des_nuages_de_paris



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Ahsoka Tano as Obi-Wan Kenobi's Padawan, Alpha Obi-Wan Kenobi, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Angst, Dialogue Heavy, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Kidnapping, M/M, Omega Anakin Skywalker, Qui-Gon Jinn is a grey jedi, Sith Anakin Skywalker, Slow Burn, Vaderkin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:01:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26532532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/des_nuages_de_paris/pseuds/des_nuages_de_paris
Summary: Obi-wan Kenobi had spent his entire life plagued by nightmares - dreams that connected him to a mysterious Sith acolyte in the Force.But now, as Dooku reaches the last leg of his life, the Sith are training a new Padawan to finally enter the ranks. The Rule of Two reigns true and their must be a Sith to fill Dooku's place.The Jedi now have their eyes set on stopping the Sith Padawan from joining those ranks before it's too late. Kenobi's only mission is simple: capture the Sith Padawan and take him to Coruscant before he can become a master.Little does he know, his foil in the Force is out to capture him too.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 14
Kudos: 152





	Astra Inclinant, Sed Non Obligant

**I**

**_Docendo Discimus_ **

“Alright, Padawan Tano. Are you ready now?”

The young Togruta girl across the navy training field smirked in her all-knowing fashion and nodded. “Don’t hold back!” She called out.

Obi-wan was happy to oblige. 

Him and Ahsoka both started to run at each other. Obi-wan caught a glance of her sprint and analyzed it like a master: she was leaning just a bit too far to the left. He took advantage of that, jumping with the aid of the Force to flip above her. He landed facing her weaker side, aiming to attack. Her step stuttered and she slipped, losing her balance just enough to where Obi-wan’s strike against her lightsaber from her opposite side knocked her onto her back. She jumped up, determined as ever, fire in her eyes. She spun both of her weapons to try to catch Obi-wan on his own weaker side.

But he was ready, and he stepped out of the way, laughing. “You seem to be having an off day, Ahsoka.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“I’ve beat you four times!” She stepped forward and lashed out at his feet, causing him to finally misstep. 

Obi-wan stumbled back a few paces. “That was just luck.”

“And you tripping just then?”

“Less luck, more skill. Congratulations.” 

“Always a pleasure.” Ahsoka smirked. He smirked back. Their expressions and mannerisms mirrored and mocked each other in a dance of student and teacher. Obi-wan had never been prouder.

They both jumped forward at the same time to clash their sabers together and hold each other in a defensive position. Their eyes met and Obi-wan couldn’t help but wrinkle his nose in a playful gesture. She giggled, right before she pushed back and jumped away.

“Your moves are a little sloppy, though, young one!” Obi-wan called out. He jerked his head to push his hair out of his sight. “You would be wise to practice your balance.

“And yet I’m all the way over here.” Ahsoka settled back into her battle stance and crossed her two sabers in front of her. The green glow shimmered over her orange skin. “Tired yet, old man?”

Obi-wan twirled his saber in his hand aimlessly. “Not yet. You can still take a lot out of me.”

That was just the challenge she needed to run across the training field. Obi-wan chuckled to himself and dug his feet into the floor. He counted down, moment by moment, until Ahsoka was close enough for him to shift around. He started his turn with too much ego in his eyes. But he froze, a bit in shock, when he felt Ahsoka’s leg between his own and the heat of both her blades at his sides. One movement from him, and she could snap her arms shut and sever him in two.

They both paused, heaving breaths and shaking hands. Obi-wan looked her over and straightened his stance to a neutral position. Pride beamed from his eyes. “Fine. I’m calling it. You won.” The heat from the saber blades was hot to his skin. 

She stepped back. “Really?” She started to bounce on her toes. “Actually?”

“Really.” He nodded. He could smell the adrenaline radiating off of her.

Ahsoka raised her arms and wiggled in excitement. “Yes!” She cried out.

“Wonderful session, padawan.” He withdrew his lightsaber and she followed in kind. “I am extremely proud of your progress. This last round was very well done.”

“Thank you, master.” She grinned back. She clipped both of her sabers to her belt and bowed shallowly.

Obi-wan placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m excited for the Jedi you are becoming. And you should be excited.” 

“For what, master?”

Before he could say anything else, a voice echoed from the other side of the large training room. “I agree with Kenobi! Padawan Tano, you’re improving by the minute.” 

Both turned around to find Plo Koon standing there, hands behind his back, his warm spirit contrasting to the blue and silver training hall. Obi-wan bowed his head and Ahsoka bowed from the waist, both of them taking in the neutral beta scent that wafted through the room. It was like a calming wave. Both of their pulses lowered almost instantaneously. 

“Thank you, Master Koon.” Ahsoka said as she straightened up. “I’m honored you were watching. Is that why you came up here?”

“I had to come grab your master. But seeing you was a lovely bonus.” He said. Plo started to walk over to meet them. His steps were steady. He knew he was welcome. He was always welcome. Koon could even be considered, on a good day, Ahsoka’s second master. Both raising her, both training her. It was his sparring session just as much as it was Kenobi’s.

“She’s worth staying to watch.” Obi-wan said. But both men already knew that.

“I think we should start to throw around the idea of your trial being around the corner.” Plo said. “I’m sure that anyone on the council would agree.”

Ahsoka looked up at Obi-wan eagerly. “Really?”

He relented. “Yes, yes.” He chuckled. “Really.” He couldn’t help but smile as Ahsoka started to jump around from the joy.

Plo laughed. “So easily excited. It’s truly inspiring to see.” He looked at Obi-wan, leaned forward a bit to share a word master-to-master. “Master Yoda desires you to join him for the evening. It’s a situation of high importance.”

“High importance?” Obi-wan shared a glance with his padawan. “Well, better not leave him waiting. Ahsoka, go freshen up and rest for the evening. You deserve it.” 

Him and Ahsoka leaned down close to each other, foreheads touching briefly in the classic familial gesture before she jogged off to catch an elevator down to the ground floor. “See you tomorrow!” She yelled over her shoulder. 

“And don’t forget to take your suppressants!” He called after her. When she was gone, her signature and her scent just a memory, Obi-wan’s demeanor transformed into something more serious. “It’s the Padawan, isn’t it?”

“There’s an update.” Plo nodded. “Quick. We should go.”

And go they did. Obi-wan kept pace with Plo and tried to get his thoughts in order. _“There was a update.”_ Those were horrifying words. He had been grateful to _not_ hear those words for a handful of months. He had almost even reached a point where his mind was free from the burdens and anxieties of the Padawan. But alas - peace rots.

The Padawan, the Sith Padawan. He was the bomb ticking under the council’s nose for over a decade. Any news was bad news - because every single day brought the phantom student closer to being a leader. He had never left the shadows. He had never been seen before. No one knew even a name. There was no word to even call him.

But he had been in Obi-wan’s dreams. And his cursed, horrible thoughts. Countless nights were spent waking up trembling, darkness on the end of his thoughts. It was his boulder to heave. The underside of his bed wasn’t free of this monster.

They moved quickly to the council chambers, empty except for Master Yoda sitting in his chair with his eyes shut. The room glowed with the quickly brightening sunrise. Obi-wan and Plo stood in the doorway, feeling the strength of the old master’s meditation flowing around them. This room, and Yoda’s energy, usually brought Obi-wan peace. Obi-wan shut his eyes and inhaled the energy, opening them right as Yoda began to speak.

“Hello, Kenobi.” He said. His eyes remained shut. “How was training?”

Obi-wan relaxed for a moment. “Wonderful. Ahsoka is shaping into an amazing warrior.”

“Her future is bright.” Yoda nodded. Even though his eyes were closed. Obi-wan could see the pride in them. “An alpha master with an alpha padawan, best match for success it is.” Silence hung in the room before he spoke again. “Master Kenobi…” He sighed. “Your foil in the Force. Show his face, he did.”

Those words were like a blaster to the chest to Obi-wan. His heart stuttered and his scent instantly became thick with fear. Yoda opened his eyes and shifted in his seat, the energy in the room changing and affecting even him. 

Plo was sensitive to it, too. He tensed up quickly. “Show his face?” He frowned. He led the way into the room, taking his usual seat and crossing his legs. “I thought it was a simple security video.”

“Simple, yes. But see him, we did.”

Obi-wan inhaled sharply. “So we did.”

Yoda nodded as Obi-wan found his seat. “Yes. In a painful way.”

Obi-wan sat down slowly. His stomach was starting to tie itself into knots. “Where is he? How did he appear?”

“He led a raid. Stole many lives, he did.” Yoda pressed a button with a small finger and hologram of a cloaked finger tearing down man after man, clone after clone.

It was an image Obi-wan wasn’t ready for. His heart rate started to pick up. He had seen battle before, and had seen horrific deaths. But he had never seen _him_ before. The physical appearance of the darkness that crept up behind him was almost overwhelming. He was tall. That was of note to Obi-wan. He was tall, and skilled. The speed in how he took down each soldier was inditimating, to say the least. And the way he crushed the camera with the Force and cut off the transmission felt like he had reached through the hologram and choked Obi-wan himself.

At the end of day, when Obi-wan would close his eyes, this Padawan would appear to him. He would see through his eyes, live his memories. It felt like he hadn’t slept alone in ten long years. And now there he was - which meant that finally, finally, Obi-wan had a job to do.

He was no longer confused as to why he was summoned. He knew why.

“He left his home.” Obi-wan said.

He turned to see Yoda staring at him. “I feel your energy, Kenobi. The fear of the unknown burns inside you. But trust yourself, you must. What needs to be done, you know.” Yoda slipped out of his seat and hobbled over closer to Obi-wan. “The dark side has been calling. You have been given a twin in the Force. A connection to a being in this galaxy you have never met. You are tied, yes? Tied to someone.”

Plo smoothed out his robes. “Every day, I am amazed that the Force continues to surprise us. A string, tying two users together - quite the miracle, despite the circumstances.”

“It will be a miracle when it is cut.” Obi-wan smiled tightly.

“It might be easier to cut than we all first suspected.” Plo said.

That peaked Obi-wan’s interest. “And what makes you say this?”

“There is a suspicion that this bond is not a natural happening.” Yoda stopped next to Obi-wan and placed a gentle hand on his knee. “Prepare yourself. Dark information, you are about to receive.”

Obi-wan’s eyes shifted from Yoda to Plo. Both of their stares bore into him. “There’s something you all haven’t been telling me. For quite a while.” He could feel it. And maybe he knew it the whole time. The looks shared between two other masters, the tensity in the air whenever Obi-wan would report another dream to Yoda. There was always a secret - but he accepted it. 

Just as he always accepted everything. When he first became a master ten years ago, after the death of his own, he remembered having his first dream with the Dark Padawan. And he accepted it, and told Yoda. And Yoda told him of his bond, and he accepted it. And over and over, he just took what he was given and continued to walk. Maybe because it was easier.

It must not be easy anymore. He wondered if there was any more room inside of him for accepting.

“Now that the hunt for the Sith Padawan is to begin, you must become aware of suspicions we have been mulling over for quite a while.” Plo sighed. He turned to look out one of the windows of the council room, the golden light of an early sunset glowing over his goggles. “Obi-wan, how often do you think of your late master?”

“Every day.” He responded quickly. And he meant every word.

“And meanwhile, questioned his intentions, every day we have.” Yoda shook his head sadly.

Obi-wan sat up in his seat. “Pardon me?”

“Master Kenobi.” Plo began. “We have reason to believe that Qui-gon was possibly the first master of the Sith Padawan.”

Obi-wan’s well-crafted repose cracked.

He didn’t even have the strength to respond. He placed his chin in his shaking hand and just managed a small and quiet nod. He wanted to admonish himself for his behavior - he probably looked like a horribly bratty child, getting all moody because he didn’t get his way. Although that wasn’t the case - he was a man, an adult, and his biggest weakness was being lifted out of a swamp and placed in front of him.

“I understand that will be a lot to process.” Plo said, emphasizing each word. “I urge you to keep an open mind.” He pushed himself up to stand. “Master Jinn was...revolutionary. He was a wild card. A man of his own morals. And that changed things for the better, in my opinion. Having a man who pushes back can be the best gift the council could be given.”

“Then why do you believe he could have done something as horrible as teaching a child of darkness?” Obi-wan snapped. He was sweating. His panic was making him overheat. His scent was clouding the orange-washed room.

“Painful, yes. But horrible?” Yoda shook his head. “Balance, he believed he was creating. Adding a second side to a coin, hmm?”

“What did he _do_?” Obi-wan asked. He was getting louder. Even the neutral scent of the two betas before him couldn’t calm him anymore. 

“We have evidence that the padawan you all lost on Naboo was, in fact, taken alive to an unknown outer rim planet.” Plo said.

Memories that Obi-wan didn’t know he had pushed away came flooding back. Him and his old master, standing together, laughing at this young spitfire child who wanted nothing more than to be a pilot. The pain, the soul-shattering grief when Qui-gon returned one day and told everyone that the child had died in an explosion. Them, grieving the loss together as one. Then, Qui-gon being slain by a Sith enemy, and Obi-wan having to drag his master’s body through the halls of a Naboo castle. 

He had lost so much in that time. And it sounded like he was about to lose even more.

“I would like to know of this evidence, please.” Was the only thing that managed to come out of his mouth.

“In due time, we will show it all.” Yoda said. 

“Why would he willingly connect a Sith to me? I was…” Obi-wan trailed off. The pain was leaking into his voice and he refused to allow it. He took a moment to recompose himself. “He was my master. And the child! He was a youngling! Why would he hand an innocent to the Sith?”

“He is no longer a child.” Plo remarked.

Obi-wan’s eyebrows drew together. “That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Questions will be answered soon, Kenobi.” Yoda held up a hand. “Priority, now? Finding him, it is. And capturing him. Protecting us all before Dooku falls.” He hobbled to a window. “He is weak. Feel it in the Force, I do. Darth Sidious will not wait. He will find his Second.”

“And it will be the Padawan.” Plo said. “Ashoka and I are going to join you in finding him before it’s too late.”

“Protect the galaxy, we must.”

“What will happen to the padawan once detained?” Obi-wan asked. His blue eyes danced between the two masters, waiting for an answer that he knew would never come. He knew what they both would say. He wasn’t a child.

He stood up and smoothed down his tunic. “Thank you, both of you, for the update. I shall spend the night preparing myself for the upcoming battles.”

“We can provide you with everything you need in the library, so you and your padawan can be as up to date as we are.” Plo said. “Maybe the Force be with you, Kenobi.”

“May you find peace this evening.” Yoda nodded with him.

But the idea of peace was fleeting as Obi-wan walked into the hall. He walked away from the council chambers, towards the sleeping quarters. As soon as he reached his own room, where the sunset poured in like lava and the bed was perfectly made, he stood alone in the silence.

Sometimes, when he was alone, he could feel his old master beside him - maybe even hear him. He couldn’t feel it tonight, though. It was better that he couldn’t. He didn’t even know what he could say to Qui-gon tonight. Would he even be able to look him in the eye? 

He prayed Ahsoka never felt this feeling in her lifetime. It was as if his master had died in his arms all over again.

He walked over to his bedside table and picked up one lonely teacup. It was small and white and clean from that morning. He had made it a point to always have tea, in the morning and at night. It was a trick Qui-gon had taught him, to remind him each time to take his suppressants and contemplate. Think about the planet, think about the universe - think about his weight in the Force.

The teacup had grounded him for so long. As it rolled over in his hands, the rim struck the light. The blue sheen hidden over the white ceramic glittered back to Obi-wan. Blue - like his saber. Qui-gon had made sure he knew that it was made that way just for him. He turned it in his palm, over and over, watching it and thinking. He swore that he could still see the reflection of his younger self in the ceramic.

Obi-wan shattered it.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr is des-nuages-de-paris if you want more!


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